Suddenly princess
by yenyenyen
Summary: Haruno Sakura, a 15-year old abused teen who works at Ichiraku's to feed her and her drunkard father with no money for school, is suddenly engaged to Suna's Prince, Akasuna Sasori. Will she accept him and let him melt her heart or will Sasori be rejected?
1. Life is harsh

I bent down with my hands on my knees and let out a tiny wail, trying to let a little of my exhaustion escape through my voice as my grip on the mop tightened.

"What are you doing, girl? Keep cleaning!"

I felt a sharp pain to my side and I fell to the grimy ground. Crying out, I knew my boss had hit me, either with his hand or with something, like a frying pan. Since getting hit was normal to me, I really didn't feel any pain when I got beat, but today I felt it realistically. Maybe I was getting sick?

Getting up and spitting slightly as I did so, I grabbed the fallen mop and continued my horrid labor. I felt the glare of my boss's eyes on my back and my mopping quickened.

He gave a satisfied grunt and left the kitchen.

I let out a sigh when I saw that he was really gone, and looked out the window.

I am Haruno Sakura, 15 years old starting today, and I am a drunkard's daughter with no mother. Apparently she left when I was 10 and died in the streets. I hate her now. My hair is abnormally pink, and my eyes a rare green. This was a creepy combination, or so the other kids said, so I never managed to get any friends.

I brushed my bangs out of my eyes. I guess I'm a natural loner.

After 2 more tedious hours of grueling work, I was free to go. I put the little things I had into an old bag I had nicked fresh from the rubbish bin; my purse, a small mirror, and my phone. It was an old model, but I guess I'm very lucky to at least have a phone.

I slipped on my white, fake leather shoes and walked out to the busy streets of Suna. Cars roared pass me, splashing sewage water onto my white skirt. Ignoring it, I crossed the street and walked towards my home.

My home was a dingy, dirty, damp apartment on the second floor. The first floor was home to a well-known rapist, and on the third floor was a reformed serial killer who had just come out of jail a couple days ago. What a pleasant place to return to.

I pushed open the door, knowing it wasn't locked. My dad was inside, snoring and mumbling incoherently as an empty beer can fell from his hand and hit the floor with a 'clang!' waking him up.

His eyes opened slowly, and wandered drunkenly until he finally saw me in the doorway.

"What the hell were you doing?" He roared, throwing the beer can at me. I let it hit me, because I knew he would get mad if I dodged it. The pain was not felt, and I merely continued to watch him.

"Konbanwa, tou-san." I greeted, not moving from my spot. "How are you today?"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP! Do you expect me to starve? Go cook dinner!"

I nodded obediently and put down my bag. After my dad finished eating whatever I had cooked, he pulled a face and threw the bowl on the ground. It broke, and some pieces of it cut my leg. I watched the blood run down my ankle.

"You clean that up!" My dad hollered, and slapped me across the face. He proceeded to beat me with anything he could find, including the chair he was sitting on.

I coughed out blood on the floor as soon as he left to his bedroom, and I dragged myself as quietly as I could into my own room where I patched myself up. With what strength I had left, I pulled aside one of the floorboards, shooed away the mice and took out my medical first aid kit.

I placed band-aids on the worst cuts, and rubbed medical gel on my bruises to numb the pain. Putting my things in gently, I slid the floorboards back.

My bed was the ground, so my back was used to hard places. My blankets were my clothes, and my companion was darkness. I'm used to the dark. I grew up in the dark. Darkness is my true home.

Darkness is my soul.


	2. Enter Orochimaru!

"Get out of here; you little whore, before you make me sick!"

"I will tou-san. Wait just a bit longer," I answered, slipping my grey (formerly white) shoes on and tearing a hairbrush through my hair. The sewage water had washed off the color of my shoes. My father let out a snarling grumble and knocked me off my feet one final time before going inside his bedroom to get more booze.

Taking my chance, I grabbed my purse and ran out of the house and down the stairs. When I passed the apartment door that used to be the rapist's home, a cold hand shot out from the door and grabbed my arm.

"Hello pretty…would you like to come inside for a while?" A snickering voice whispered into my ear. My eyes narrowed with revulsion when I recognized the voice.

"So my new neighbor is you, Orochimaru. If you don't mind, I would like to go to work." I growled in annoyance.

The door opened wider, and a man with long black hair who looked as white as a sheet emerged from the dark. He had purple eyeshadow on and his pupils an eerie snakelike yellow.

"Oh, if it isn't the little cherry blossom?" Orochimaru chuckled. "I'm impressed that you remembered me." He let go of my arm.

"Why did you grab my arm?" I said, frowning at him. "Don't act like a pedophile,"

Orochimaru frowned back. "I was just testing out my VERY PUSUASIVE abilities, and I'm NOT a PEDOPHILE."

At that reply I let out a snort, earning an annoyed look from the pale man. Peering inside his new home, I saw cages of experimental snakes and rats, products from his company lined up against the wall, and a clock. It was 7:30 AM. I had an hour to get to Ichiraku's. If I hurried, 10 minutes could be spared.

"Where do you go to work, hm?" Orochimaru asked, suddenly friendly. Suspicions rising, I inched away from him without him noticing.

"I work at Ichiraku's ramen. Why do you ask?"

"There IS this boy I have been interested in lately…"

My lip curled sarcastically as I faced him. "What, Itachi isn't good enough for you?" I said snidely. Orochimaru smirked back.

"Itachi-kun hasn't been doing well lately. Too much booze and women, it's distracting him from his work." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "My new target- I mean, interest, is his little brother, Sasuke-kun. If he doesn't work, I'll aim higher."

I had known Orochimaru since 12 years old. He was the owner of a company who had recently crashed in competition with the Konoha laboratory companies. Since then, Orochimaru has been plotting on getting his company started again. We had a loose, half-friendship since he had suffered like I did in his childhood, growing up to be that misled freak he is now.

"I haven't' seen Sasuke in a while. However, it would be interesting to see him working for you." I said. "You need my help getting him?"

"Now that's a good girl. But no, I can get to him through Itachi."

"If Sasuke refuses, who are you planning to get then?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh…" To my surprise, Orochimaru let out a cackle instead of his usual chuckle. "This will freak you out, cherry blossom. It's Akasuna no Sasori, Suna's prince!"

I squinted at him as though he was insane. "Are you crazy?" I asked. Orochimaru looked slightly crestfallen; he hadn't achieved the reaction he had hoped to get from me.

"No, I am NOT crazy!" Orochimaru hissed, offended. "What else is better then to get the whole of Suna on your side? This is practically genius, if I do say so myself."

"But he's the prince! How are you going to even approach him?!"

"Through you, of course."


	3. Enter Sasori! Changes of heart and pain

"You've got to be kidding me

**Hey guys, sorry about the drastic changes to the summary (sorry, old readers) and the story line. But I couldn't help but…-coughs-, that would be a spoiler, wouldn't it? **

Suddenly, some dirty water splashed onto me directly overhead. Idiot housewives, are they doing this on purpose to make my day even more miserable then it deserves to be? Wiping the dirtiest grit out of my face, eyes and hair, I left the rest and proceeded to work with disgustingly tousled locks swinging around my head like octopus legs.

"I'm not going to be late!" I shouted as I plowed my way through the crowd, earning profanities shot at me from a couple of annoyed passerby's. I spat back with a curse and a glare.

Just when I could reach Ichiraku's with two minutes of time left, someone collided with me head-on. The impact knocked me over, and I fell on my stomach with the air knocked out of me.

"Watch where you're going, beggar." An impassive voice said flatly. I growled, wanting to knock his eyes out of his head for calling me that, but I held in my anger and studied the person's face for a second before turning away.

"Damn you, YOU watch where you're going!" I snarled in pure venom before scooping up my bag and running to Ichiraku's. Feeling his stony gaze upon my back only made me hurry faster.

"You stupid wench, do you know how much work you're making me do just because you're late?" My boss screeched overhead the moment I entered the shop, looming like a hawk ready to chow down on a mouse. I gritted my teeth angrily but didn't answer. It was best not to answer when he was in this kind of mood. Jesus, what side of the bed did he get up wrong? Probably both, judging from his face, I thought to myself.

"Get to work!" He shouted, swinging a frying pan at my face. I fell to the ground crying out, my cheek felt as if on fire and blood dripped out of the corner of my mouth. Happy with the result, he stomped off to wash his hands like he always does after beating me.

I didn't' bother to scrub my face or hands as I prepared the noodles. The customers didn't notice the beating of their chef, so they wouldn't notice the dirt in their noodles that would eventually harm their health anyway.

"I could shut this place down for the insane hygiene, beggar." A familiar, impassive voice came from behind the counter.

I stopped kneading the noodles. "So what? The better for me." I snapped before stretching the noodles. "This place is famous for these noodles, so you'll get a mass protest for shutting this place down, mister 'somebody-just-crapped-in-my-cereal'."

"Is that how you address the _Prince_ of _Suna_?' The smugness in his tone made me whirl around with a knife ready to kill.

"Prince or no Prince, you keep on bothering me and there'll be no heir after the Kazekage dies!" I threatened fiercely; the dripping butcher knife sharpened my intimidating appearance with disheveled, brownish hair from the dirt, blackened face and grimy, dirt-encased hands.

His mouth curved up into an arrogant smirk. "Oh really? You, kill the Prince of Suna? That is very…er…imaginative of you, beggar."

It took every ounce of my willpower not to slice him into little bitty bits with my butcher knife. Shaking with anger, I forced myself to turn away and ignore him while cooking the noodles. Silence reigned for a while before my defeated sigh broke it.

"Why do you work here if you get beaten everyday?" He asked suddenly, the smugness in his tone gone.

"My survival depends on it," I answered stiffly, sifting the noodles. "Not everyone is born rich with a stupid title above their heads."

I sliced the noodles in half rather violently before pouring them into bowls. He watched me work with interest, and finally, he ordered something.

"I'll have the Lobster, miso and shrimp ramen." He said, putting away the menu. I growled menacingly as it was the most difficult thing to prepare.

I cursed him under my breath using every curse word in the history of human language as I wrenched the shell off the lobster, cutting my fingers in the process. I prepared the miso naturally, with the bean curd and everything. I held the shrimps over the steam of the noodles while sweating buckets under the heat of it. After a half hour, I finally dumped them into the bowl of noodles and gave it to him.

"Here's your order," I said softly, too tired to spit any insult at him. Sweat slid beadily down my large forehead. The look on his face was unreadable when he accepted the meal. But I didn't care, my fingers were bleeding and stinging, I was soaked to the bone in sweat and I'm sure I smelled like cow dung.

"It…it's really good." He whispered suddenly. I was really shocked to hear such a little-boy voice come out of the pest. I didn't say anything, or to be more exact, I didn't know what to say.

The noodles were gone in 5 minutes. I took the bowl, washed it under cold water to nurse my fingers and soon the dirt also came away from my hands. My pale cream skin appeared to be unharmed from the filth. I sighed in relief.

When I looked back up, he was gone. Money was on the table.

Everyday after that, he came to the restaurant for the same thing. I grew used to the grueling work of preparing the ramen, but the look on his face seemed to be satisfying enough to make me go on and continue to make it. It felt strange to see him there, knowing he was there long before I got up to go to work. It felt strange to cook for him, and hear him repeat what he said the first time he tasted the noodles with the same little-boy tone of voice.

I knew something was changing in me…something that was melting my hard, cold facade that had been put up ever since my mother died and when I started my job. I didn't like it, but it happened. A strange ache in my heart that made it throb at the sight of him. A pang that hurt me when he left my sight. I knew I was already falling…but I was resisting. I was trying to convince myself we could never be. A prince and a pauper, what a crazy combination.

Our worlds were completely different, mine was something he couldn't understand, and vice versa for me. I was jealous, jealous of his wealth and fortune while people like me were left to rot. Somehow I harbored a hate for him besides those strange feelings. He acted like I was just somebody else, not a peasant. I hated him for it. Was he mocking me through his kindness?

"What's your name?" He suddenly asked in the middle of eating his noodles, one day in boiling hot August. "I never knew your name."

"Why do you want to know my name? You're the Prince of Suna. I'm a nobody."

"I just want to know. We've met for a month and I still don't know your name." He pressed, boring into my eyes.

"I'm Haruno Sakura." I answered after a moment.

"That's a nice name. It suits you." His noodles were gone in a minute. I took the bowl from him to wash.

"Hn, and now what do you want to know? My hair color?" I smiled sarcastically as I scrubbed the dishes.

"That's a good topic there, Haruno. What color is it? I'm sure it's not that disgusting brown." I knew he was smirking. I knew it!

"Oh shut up!" I snapped, growing irritated now. I heard a tiny snorting noise behind me. Was he…chuckling?

"I said shut up!" My voice was a low growl. "I'll never tell you my hair color. I was always shunned for it anyway. There's no reason for you to know."

"Hn, well, if you insist, Haruno."

The arrogant smirk was on his face again as he turned away to look at the street. He always came disguised, probably not because it'll hurt his reputation, but because, as he said, he will get mobbed.

"_You probably noticed how I look. I'll get mobbed by Suna fangirls." He said smugly, the smirk growing bigger by the second. "Who could resist me anyway?" _

_I snorted at his haughtiness. "I could."_

_Surprisingly, the smirk vanished in a second. _

As I washed the dishes, something I had put in the very back of my mind hit me like a thousand-ton stone wall. Orochimaru's request.

Was I going to help Orochimaru? Orochimaru helped me through so much in life…Orochimaru gave me medicine to nurse my wounds inflicted by my tou-san and my boss, medicine that worked so well scars would disappear in days. Orochimaru gave me food and water when I couldn't get any by myself. Orochimaru took care of me when my mother died and my father went into depression. Was I going to repay Orochimaru? But I couldn't hurt him, I won't.

"Find another girl to help you, Orochimaru." I said to him on the phone at the end of the day. "I'm through."

"Oh, but we had a deal, Sakura-chan."

"I never promised you anything! I won't help you hurt him."

"I'm not going to hurt him, but merely…approach him through means of business…"

"I can't use him like this! I can't…I can't! Please, find another girl to do this! Why him?! Why not Sasuke?!"

"Itachi tried to get Sasuke, but he's working for the company of Konoha. Itachi has also left for the Akatsuki organization. I've got nobody influential left!"

I sank to the ground in shock. "I-Itachi made a deal with you! A pact! He can't just do that!"

"Deals and promises are meant to be broken, Sakura-chan. But I didn't expect you to break yours. Is that how you repay me? After all these years of help from me?" His voice became a dangerously low hiss.

"A-alright, you win." I let out a choked sob. "I'll try…ok?"

"Now that's my Sakura-chan." Orochimaru chuckled sickly.


End file.
